Consequences
by Kelly of the midnight dawn
Summary: Its a CaseyMunch story. She was lonely, he was even lonelier. Now they have to live with the consequences Please R
1. Chapter 1

Consequences

Summary: Casey/Munch pairing. She was lonely, he was even lonelier. One night and now they have to live with the consequences.

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

A/N: I usually like to write EO but I think that Casey and Munch are just so cute together.

Chapter 1

It had been a hard day in court and she sat at the bar, drowning her distress in Shirley Temples. She couldn't touch alcohol, not after the Eldridge case, not after the things she had found out about her friend. That had been three months ago and she still couldn't forget.

She felt a presence beside her. She turned to see John Munch take a seat beside her. He ordered a ginger ale and turned to face her.

"Come here often?" he joked. He knew that this was her bar, the place where she would always be after court.

She smiled "Maybe. You?"

"Sometimes," he answered.

The bar tender set the ginger ale down on the bar and John picked it up and took a sip. Casey smiled, she would have pegged him as the old fashioned gin and tonic type.

"You okay?" he asked sincerely when he noticed that she had been silent for awhile.

"Yeah," she said, somewhat absently.

"Tough day?" he asked, in a tone that told Casey that he already knew the answer.

"Yeah," she answered in the same absent tone "You?"

"Mmhmm," he answered and sighed "We're finding more and more degenerates for you to prosecute."

"Oh goodie," Casey said, sarcastically.

"Yeah," Munch said. Now it was his turn to sound absent "Why can't people just get along?"

Casey stopped short "You? Mr. Sarcastic are wishing for world peace?"

"I do have a serious side you know," he shot back in his normal sarcastic tone of voice.

Casey looked at him. She didn't think she had ever really seen him before. She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know," she reassured him.

He looked at her and smiled back. He placed a hand over her other hand witch lay on the bar, next to her half finished Shirley Temple.

They sat there like that for a minute or two. When they finally pulled away both felt a small sense of loss with the absence of physical contact.

John rose and began to put on his coat.

"Leaving so soon?" Casey asked, surprised.

"Yeah," he said, in a wistful tone. He made his way to the door.

Casey watched him and couldn't fight the urge to follow his lead. She stood and walked behind him. She tapped him on the arm. He turned and stared at her with surprised eyes.

"What are you doing Casey?" he asked as he continued to look at her with eyes that gazed upon her as if they had never seen her before.

"It looked like you could use some company," she said simply, as she took one of his hands in hers and leaned forward to brush a chased kiss across his lips. She wasn't under any external influences, it had just been a really long day and she needed to feel loved, she needed someone and John Munch was that someone. He was someone that she could easily fall in love with, if she would let herself. But tonight, she just needed the physical contact, the illusion of love. She believed that she was thinking rationally because she hadn't had any alcohol and she just wanted the sex and she wanted it to be with him.

They walked to his car together. They drove to his place together. They walked up to his apartment together. They stepped inside together. They went to the bedroom together.

Before they lay down, John broke the silence.

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly.

She just pulled him close and breathed him in "Shut up and kiss me," she said, seductively.

They lay on the bed together. They kissed deeply and passionately. They made love with reckless abandon. Casey reveled in every moment. She needed this release. She just needed this illusion and to hell with what might come next. To hell with the consequences.

TBC

I know the first chapter is short but I promise the next ones will be longer. Please review and tell me if this is a good idea.


	2. Chapter 2

Consequences Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own them. Oh how I wish I did but then again, don't we all. :Sigh:

Six weeks later

Casey sat in her office with her head in her hands. It had been a long day of paper work. Frustrating, agonizing, interminable paper work and she was not in the mood for it. For some reason, she hadn't been feeling one hundred percent the last couple of weeks. She let her eyelids drift closed, allowing the paper work to fade away into the back of her mind. Her mind wandered aimlessly through pointless aspects of her life and before she knew it, she was thinking about that night, she was thinking about John Munch.

She opened her eyes and attempted to return to her paper work but she couldn't. Remembering that night was the catalyst that started her thinking about John and once she started thinking about him, she couldn't stop. She couldn't focus on her paper work and she decided to call it a night. She walked out to where she had chained her bike. She unlocked the chain and began to peddle. She found herself circling the block where John lived. She had no idea how she had brought herself there. She turned around and headed for her place. Before she sped away, she took one last look over her shoulder at the building, at the window that she knew belonged to his apartment. The lights were off and she wondered if he was even home. She wondered if he was working late on a case or if perhaps he had gone to another bar and found someone else to share an evening with. She decided that it was his business and quickly put as much distance between her self and John's apartment as possible.

In his apartment, with the lights off, John Munch tossed and turned in his bed, alone. He couldn't get the memory of that night out of his head. How it had felt so right. How it had been so comforting. How it could never ever happen again. He thought of the millions of reasons why, it should have never happened in the first place. He wished that he wasn't alone. He wished there was someone who he could share his life with, someone who wouldn't leave him. He wished that it could be Casey.

Casey unlocked the door to her apartment, hung up her coat in her closet, tossed her keys onto the table and sank onto her couch with the TV remote. She flipped through a sorry array of programming and wished that she had someone beside her on that couch, someone who could appreciate the dumb ass comments that she found herself making about the absolute pathos of late night entertainment or what people seemed to believe pasted for it these days.

She gave up on TV and went to bed. As she lay between the covers, she found herself longing for a comforting presence, she found herself not wanting to be alone, she found herself wishing that John's presence. She had tried to convince herself that it had just been a one night stand. She wanted to believe that it had meant nothing. If she had only been drunk, she could have blamed the alcohol. If he had only been drunk, she would have felt better about it. But no, they were both sober and it had been a wonderful experience that neither of them could deny. She fell asleep feeling lonely but not regretting having slept with him.

Casey woke up the next morning feeling like crap. She had no idea why. After spending about forty five minutes in the bathroom, dry heaving, she decided to call her doctor. She picked up the phone and started dialing and was only three digits into the number before she was dry heaving over her toilet again.

"What the hell," she said aloud, as she finally gained control over her queasy stomach. She picked up the phone again and attempted dialing her doctor's office again.

She managed to get through. She made an appointment for the next afternoon. She thanked her doctor and hung up.

She was debating whether or not to go to work when her phone rang. She stared at it for a moment. Her caller ID was broked so she couldn't tell who It was. She decided to answer.

"Hello," she said, as she held the phone to her ear.

"Good morning Casey," Donald Cragen's voice came clearly over the receiver "Sorry to bother you at home."

"That's ok," Casey answered "Do you need something?"

Cragen's voice became serious "A search warrant,"

"Do you have probable cause?" Casey asked.

"Unfortunately," Cragen answered in a forlorn tone.

"What's wrong?" Casey asked. She had noticed his declining mood.

Cragen sighed "One of my detectives is a suspect in a sexually motivated homicide,"

Casey was taken aback. She couldn't imagine any of the detectives in the squad being capable of murder. She was tempted to shout at Cragen that he had to be mistaken. She decided instead that a calm demeanor was a better way to handle this situation.

"Who is it?" she asked, keeping her voice as level as possible.

Cragen uttered one word but it was the one word that was probably the one word that Casey was most hoping against hearing "Munch."

TBC

I know, it's another short chapter but I want to build a bit of suspense. I love that I've been getting so many good reviews for this. I know that some people out there think that the age difference thing is kind of weird but they just seem to work for me.


	3. Chapter 3

Consequences Part 3

Disclaimer: I don't own them. This story is just for fun.

A/N: Wow, you guys rock. I never expected this much feedback to this story. I love you all and I hope that this next chapter lives up to your expectations.

Casey ran through the doors of the squad room. She needed to know, she needed to see the evidence for herself. Not just for the warrant but for her. Part of her didn't want to know but part of her needed to. Part of her wanted to see the evidence because that part believed absolutely without a doubt that there was no way that John Munch could ever, ever do something like that. All of her believed that John was an innocent man. It was just that, she needed to… she was just really confused.

She still had a job to do and she was there to do it even if she really didn't feel like doing it at that moment.

"What do we have?" she asked as soon as she spotted Cragen.

"One dead socialite," Cragen said flatly, his gaze never leaving the floor.

It appeared to Casey that the captain was very interested in his shoes. She couldn't blame him for not being able to look her in the eye; she felt like total doom for what she was called upon to do.

"And what makes you think that John did it," Casey asked, almost defensively.

"The crime scene was meticulous," Cragen began "The vic was raped but our perp used a condom and he must have warn gloves because there were no prints," Cragen's gaze reluctantly rose from his shoes to meet Casey's. Casey could see pure misery in his eyes "And we have ten eye witnesses that saw him leaving the scene," he finally told her as his gaze fell once again to his shoes.

"Eye witnesses can be wrong," Casey stated simply. This evidence was circumstantial at best; she was not about to let herself feel complete relief but a twinge of hope fluttered in her stomach.

"I know," Cragen admitted, still sounding like grim death "but ten of them? Casey, I…" he trailed off.

"I know," she said, reaching a hand out and placing it gently on his arm "Where's John now?" she asked.

"He left the city early this morning," Cragen told her "Personal matter. He should be back in a couple of days."

Casey shuttered slightly "When did the crime occur?" she asked.

"Last night around ten o'clock," Cragen said, picking up a pen from the desk nearest to him and moving it from hand to hand.

Casey remembered the previous night when she had rode by John's building. How when she had seen the lights off she had assumed that he was not home, how she had felt slightly jealous thinking about with whom he might be spending his time. Never for a minute did she doubt his innocence but it didn't look good that he had left town the morning after the murder.

"And these witnesses identified him by name?" Casey asked suspiciously.

"They all gave a general description," Cragen began "One of them was walking through the squad room and she spotted a photo on John's desk of him and one of his ex's. She said that it was him. The other nine picked him out of a photo array."

Casey felt her stomach drop to her feet.

"Are you okay Casey?" Cragen asked.

"Yeah," Casey said but she didn't feel okay. She was worried about John, she was wondering who would want to frame him, she was feeling dizzy and queezy. She collapsed. Luckily for her she fell forward and Cragen was able to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Elliot!" Cragen called to his nearest detective "Call an ambulance!"

"What happened?" Olivia asked, coming up beside the captain.

"I don't know," Cragen said in a worried tone "We were talking about the case," he paused. Truthfully this case was enough to make him want to crumple into a little ball and retreat from the world "She just collapsed."

"Casey," Olivia spoke softly just above the other woman's ear "Can you hear me?" she asked in a concerned tone.

"Mm," Casey moaned.

"What's wrong honey?" Cragen asked as he supported her in his arms.

"Hurts," was all Casey could manage in response before her eyes drifted closed and she fell silent.

The ride to the hospital was a short one. Cragen had opted to ride with Casey in the ambulance. Olivia drove there in a squad car leaving Elliot and Fin at the station house to keep an eye on things because the perverts never rested.

When Olivia arrived in the waiting room, Cragen was already there passing back and forth.

"Any news?" Olivia asked, taking a seat and patting the one next to her.

"Not yet," Cragen informed her. He rung his hands out in front of him "I don't get it, she seemed fine just up until just a few seconds before it happened." The two of them sat in silence for a long time.

Casey's head swam in a thick fog. She drifted in and out mostly due to conscious sedation. Words drifted in and out of her brain and none of them seemed to completely register.

A nurse was standing by her head stoking her hair and saying something like "It's alright honey it's going to be alright."

Casey felt nothing but a sense of pure confusion as the doctors wheeled her into a private room. She slowly came out of her fog as nurses closely monitored her vital signs.

"What's going on?" she finally managed to ask.

"Your going to be fine honey," one of the nurses told her "You and the baby are fine."

Casey sighed and leaned her head back against the pillow. Then it finally clicked in her brain and she raised her head once again.

"Did you say baby?"

TBC

I am so sorry that it took so long to update and I am so grateful if you haven't lost interest. Please R&R.


	4. Chapter 4

Consequences

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hope you like this chapter. I love feedback

"Pregnant?" Olivia sat in a chair next to Casey's bed. Cragen had gone back to the station but Casey had asked Olivia to stay a little while with her.

"Yeah," Casey said. She needed someone to talk to about this "They said that I'm about… six weeks along. I almost lost the baby today," her voice faltered "Stress induced miscarriage."

Olivia took Casey's hand into her own "Its ok Casey, the baby is fine. You got to the hospital in time."

Casey sighed "I know," she said softly but its just this case. I've known about it all of two hours and already its effecting me."

Olivia nodded in understanding. She couldn't believe that Munch could do something like what those ten eye witnesses had accused him of.

Casey continued "it isn't just that," she paused.

"What's up Casey?" Olivia asked, her voice full of concern.

"Six weeks ago," Casey began "I… well it was late and… I met up with John and…"

Olivia put two and two together "He's the father?" she asked.

Casey nodded "Olivia?" she said softly "You can't tell anyone about this. Not yet, there's just too much going on now. Jonh deserves to know but he needs to hear it from me."

Olivia nodded "I won't say a word but people are going to notice eventually."

Casey shrugged "Yeah I'll tell Branch this afternoon."

Olivia glanced at her watch "Oh man, look at the time. I should be getting back soon. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," Casey said "I'll be fine. You go get back to work."

Olivia stood up to leave then turned back to Casey "If you need anything."

"I know," Casey smiled at her friend "Now go, get back to work. We both know that those boys are completely lost without you," the two laughed and Olivia left. Casey lay her head back against the pillow.

She had a lot to think about. A baby, a baby whose father had been accused of rape and murder, a case that Casey would otherwise be called upon to prosecute, no wonder she had had a stress induced miscarriage. She would have to take extended leave from work if she wanted to keep the baby. That wasn't even a question she would definitely keep the baby. Her thoughts were interrupted when her doctor entered the room.

"How are you feeling Casey?" he asked smiling kindly.

"I'm feeling better Dr. Monahan," she answered honestly. Dr. Monahan had been her doctor for several years and the ER had called him down as soon as she arrived.

Dr. Monahan took a seat in the chair that Olivia had occupied only minutes before. He held her chart in her hand, he looked at it as he spoke to her "Everything seems to be stable now but just to be sure that you don't have another episode like this again, I'd like to keep you in the hospital until the baby is born."

"I can't stay in the hospital for seven and a half months!" Casey protested "How do I explain this to my boss?"

"Tell him," Dr. Monahan began "That you are doing what's best for both you and your baby."

Casey sighed. She knew that he was right. It was best for the baby if she stayed in the hospital "Alright," she conceded "I'll call my boss in a few minutes and tell him."

The doctor explained more to her about the extended hospital stay. By the time he left Casey felt exhausted just thinking about how boring the next seven months of her life would be.

After he left, Casey flipped through the available cable channels. Of course nothing all that interesting was on. She turned the TV off and decided that it was as good a time as ever to call Branch.

She reached for the phone that was beside her bed on the table and began to dial.

"Branch," his voice came through the phone.

"Hey its Casey," she said in an exhausted tone.

"Casey!" he exclaimed "I heard they had to rush you to the hospital. Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said simply "Um I need to ask for some time off."

"Casey I need you around here. Your detectives just arrested John Munch. I need you to get back here and prosecute the case."

Casey felt a lump forming in her throat "I can't prosecute this case Arthur," she said in a faltering voice.

"Why not!" Branch asked, sounding irritated.

"I don't believe that he did it," Casey said.

"The detectives didn't want to arrest him for the same reason but they did anyway," Branch began "They did their jobs now you do yours."

"I can't," Casey felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes.

"Why not!" Branch began again "We have to hold law inforcement officers to a higher standard so why can't you prosecute!"

Casey felt herself choking up. Her hand instinctively went to her stomach which had not yet begun to show signs of the precious cargo that dwelled within. She took a deep breath before she responded "Because I'm carrying his baby!" She hung up the phone without waiting for a response and began to cry silently.

TBC

Please review. I need the feedback. Also it looks like I'm back to writing short chapters for a bit. Thanks in advance.


	5. Chapter 5

Consequences

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

A/N: I hope that ya'll like this chapter.

Casey was staring at the ceiling of her hospital room when she heard the door open. She turned her head to see a young woman with straight shoulder length dark hair and shining blue eyes.

"Ms. Novak?" the young woman asked.

"Call me Casey," Casey told her in a warm voice. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but there was something about this woman that she instantly liked and trusted.

"I'm Dr. Foster," the woman said extending her hand to shake Casey's "but you can call me Lesley. I'm an OBGYN."

"Nice to meet you," Casey said smiling.

Lesley took a seat in the chair that Dr. Monahan had been sitting in earlier. She took Casey's chart and looked through it. Scratching her head she contemplated the information in front of her.

"What exactly did Dr. Monahan tell you about your condition?" she finally asked in a concerned tone that made Casey feel a bit uneasy.

"He told me that I had a stress induced miscarriage but that they stopped it and that if I wanted to keep the baby that I would have to stay in the hospital," Casey answered honestly.

Lesley shook her head worriedly "He didn't give you more information about what exactly happened to you?"

"No," Casey answered, growing more concerned by the second "What is it? What's wrong?"

Lesley put a hand on Casey's shoulder "It's a condition called preeclampsia. Its very serious."

Casey's stomach did a somersault. She had heard of preeclampsia before but she had know idea that she had it this time. Dr. Monahan had given her no reason to even suspect it when she spoke to him. She assumed that this was the reason that Lesley was talking to her right now instead of Dr. Monahan.

"There are varying degrees of severity with preeclapsia," Lesley continued "Yours is pretty bad."

Casey immediately rolled over onto her left side. She remembered that this was the best way to ensure that the baby would receive a sufficient blood supply.

Lesley patted Casey's shoulder "It'll be ok Casey. I promise that we'll do everything we can to ensure that you deliver a healthy baby."

Casey smiled weekly at Lesley "Can I be alone for a minute?" she asked softly.

"Just a second," Lesley told her as she wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Casey's right arm "This cuff will check your blood pressure every ten minutes, OK?"

Casey nodded. She remembered about having to monitor the blood pressure in cases of preeclampsia also.

Lesley left Casey alone and headed to her office. She sat down at her desk and picked up a file that had recently been delivered. It was Casey Novak's medical history. As Lesley flipped through it she paused, she pulled out the particular report that had caught her eye and her heart instantly broke for the woman.

In her room, Casey stared out the window that was visible from her position on her left side. She remembered all those years ago and tears sprang to her eyes.

She remembered the doctors words that day 'There are several things that can cause preeclampsia. We can treat it but the treatment isn't always 100 effective. This is not your fault Casey' but as Casey lay there in her hospital bed she couldn't help thinking that it was.

Olivia stood with Elliot, Fin and the Captain outside an interrogation room.

"Why did major case get involved in this?" Fin muttered.

"Pressure from the brass," Cragen answered "A cop is accused of a crime and they want to make sure that its handled properly."

"But we've dealt with dirty cops before," Elliot protested, not for a moment finding it possible for John to be one.

"He's one of ours," Cragen answered again in the same flat tone that belied his true feelings "We can't handle the interrogation. We're lucky that we're aloud to observe."

"What about IAB?" Olivia asked. When all present turned and looked at her as if she was from Mars, she added "This is their thing, write?"

Cragen opened his mouth but before he could respond an all to familiar voice cut in.

"We're over seeing Major Case's progress in this matter."

Everyone present turned to see the all too familiar sight of Sergeant Tucker who had a smug look on his face.

"It was only a matter of time," Tucker mused to himself.

"Care to elaborate?" Olivia asked, stepping closer to the IAB officer.

"Not really," Tucker spoke down to her as if he were reprimanding a small child "but since you asked. I knew it was only a matter of time before someone in this department screwed up," he looked pointedly at Elliot and Olivia to emphasize his next point "and this time there's nothing you can do to cover your asses."

Olivia was just about to put Sergeant Tucker in his place when her cell phone rang. She turned away to answer it.

"Benson… Oh hi… Ok I'll be write there." She hung up and turned to Cragen "Sorry Captain something came up. I have to go. I'll be back in an hour."

Cragen nodded and Olivia walked away, stopping at her desk to grab her coat from the back of her chair.

"Hey!" Elliot called after her as he caught up with her "What's going on?"

"I just need some fresh air," she lied.

Elliot didn't buy it "Fresh air in this city C'mon Liv spill."

She turned to him "Ok but you can't tell anyone."

Elliot gave her a quizzical look "Are we in junior high again?" he asked sarcastically.

She gave him a light punch in the arm "Shut up and listen. Its important that I can trust you to keep this secret."

Elliot took both of her hands in his and looked at her seriously "Olivia," he began "you know you can trust me. I promise I won't tell anyone if you don't want me too."

"Its not about what I want," she began, finding it hard to meet his gaze. She found it hard to explain away the shiver that went up her spine when her held her hand "It's about what Casey wants."

Shock was evident on Elliot's face. He was speechless for a moment "What's wrong with Casey?" he asked. He hadn't heard anything other than that she wasn't dead.

Olivia blurted out the truth "She's pregnant with John's baby and John doesn't know and she's got complications and she just called me and she wants me to come to the hospital and she sounded really upset and I don't know what to do," she wiped the forming tears from her face.

Elliot brought her into a hug "Its ok Liv," he comforted "John will be proven innocent. It'll all work out," although Elliot himself wasn't all that sure. He knew that John was innocent of course but the DA's office was under a lot of pressure to get him convicted.

Olivia separated from his embrace "I'd better get to the hospital," she made a move towards the door.

"I'll come with you," Elliot said, grabbing his coat and following her out of the precinct.

TBC

A/N: I guess it was inevitable. I can't get away from EO. Please R&R and I'll make sure I don't go so long without posting chapters for this story.


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